


A Midnight Dreary

by sophiegaladheon



Category: The Greenhollow Series - Emily Tesh
Genre: A cat - Freeform, Chocolate Box Exchange, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29272728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiegaladheon/pseuds/sophiegaladheon
Summary: There's a creature hiding in the bushes.(or: Tobias makes a new friend, and Henry is charmed)
Relationships: Tobias Finch/Henry Silver
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	A Midnight Dreary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [estelraca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estelraca/gifts).



> Happy chocolatebox, estelraca! As requested, there is a cat. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> The title is from 'The Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe

There’s something underneath the desiccated tangle of dead shrubberies in front of the row of dilapidated townhouses Tobias has walked past every day for the last three weeks on his way to and from the municipal archives. He first noticed two days ago, when a hiss and a yelp drew his attention in the dark, silent streets as he walked past on his way back to his rented rooms, followed by a rustle as whatever it was ran away. He couldn’t find the source that night, but he’s kept an eye and an ear out every morning and evening since then, to try and spot the creature.

(It isn’t often Tobias misses his connection with The Wood, but the limitations of ordinary human senses are, on occasion, annoying.)

Tonight, the details of their current case are weighing heavily on his mind as he makes his way back towards his lodgings in the lingering twilight--they’ve had no luck finding the series of letters Mrs. Silver critically needs, the archive staff is getting suspicious of his frequent visits, and Henry is getting impatient. They need a break, and soon, or the entire investigation will fall apart. 

Caught up in his thoughts as he is, Tobias is alert enough to pick up on a small sound, as he passes by the townhouses. A soft, high-pitched whine, much quieter than the noise he had heard days previously. Tobias stops, listens, and only hears the silence that isn’t of a city on its way to bed. Carefully, he steps closer to the dead thicket of branches that ran like a snarled-up ball of twine between the houses’ doorsteps.

With a glance over his shoulder to ensure the rest of the street was clear of observers who might view a large man in dark clothes with suspicion, he leaned down and pried up the edge of the thicket to see underneath. Nothing. He tried again, a little further down. Still nothing. On the other side of the next door. There--just a flicker of the light flashing off an eye, but that was it.

There was a cat, and a tiny one at that. Old enough to be away from its mother but not by much, if he was any judge. And injured, if the hesitant, pained movements it was making in the shadows were any indication.  
Tobias sighed and slid off his jacket, glancing around the street once more. He hoped Henry wouldn’t mind him being late for dinner. Or their new houseguest.

* * *

Henry sighed as he flipped through the final pages of yet another sheaf of immensely boring documents that contained absolutely no trace of the letters he was searching for. He groaned and stretched the stiffness out of his neck before neatly sliding the papers back into their case, tying the ribbon shut as carefully as he can to make it look as though it hasn’t been untied. 

There’s a bowl of soup at his elbow, no longer steaming and, when he tastes it, in fact stone cold. Henry frowns, and not just from the taste of congealed, mystery meat stew. Tobias is late. Tobias is very late. That is unusual to say the least. There is a crack of thunder in the distance and Henry is distracted for just a moment long enough to appreciate the dramatic irony.

Not long after, as Henry is simultaneously mentally formulating a list of every horrible thing that could have possibly happened and searching under the bed for the pair of boots that he doesn’t mind getting soaked in the rainstorm now pouring down outside when Tobias rushes through the door with a clatter and a slosh of water onto the floor. 

He’s soaked through, his shirt and hair plastered against his skin, his jacket a bundle in his arms. He holds it awkwardly against his chest, steady and delicate, as he tries to shut the door behind him with greater tact than he had managed while entering.

Henry gapes for a moment, shock freezing him in his awkward crouch for long enough that he can hear the specter of his mother despairing of his shoddy reflexes before he springs to action and grabs the towels.

Tobias carefully lays down his bundled jacket in front of the fire grate before accepting one, using it to wipe down his face and wring out his hair. “Sorry I’m late,” he says, setting the now-damp cloth aside.

“What happened?” Henry asks, crouching down next to Tobias, who has turned his attention back to his jacket. His question is answered as Tobias unwraps the bundle of damp wool to reveal a tiny, shivering, black kitten. 

The kitten gives a pitiful but loud yell, and Henry chokes back a laugh. Tobias gently pets its head, his hand comically large next to such a small creature, and yet so kind and careful that it cannot help but bring a smile to Henry’s face.

Taking the second towel, Tobias carefully dries off the kitten in the few damp patches that his jacket had not protected. He murmurs soothingly as he works, and the fireplace radiates a comfortable heat this close to the screen, and soon the kitten is curled up and purring in the nest of Tobias’s jacket. 

“I see you made a friend,” Henry says, soft so as not to disturb their guest, and with a delighted smile. Still the friend of wild creatures, his Tobias. 

“He was out all by himself. I think he had been for a while,” Tobias says, also in a hushed tone. “I didn’t much like his odds if I left him alone.”

Henry lays his cheek against Tobias’s shoulder. His shirt is still wet, the skin cold underneath. “Of course you couldn’t have,” he agrees. “Now get changed. I’m not having you catch your death of a chill and sticking me with the task of explaining to my mother why she has a new houseguest.”

* * *

When Henry and Tobias finally returned to Mrs. Silver’s house, _sans_ letters and _avec_ cat, Mrs. Silver only shook her head and sighed. Henry chalked this up to his mother liking Tobias much more than she liked him, but when he shared this theory Tobias only chuckled and gestured at the kitten, now scampering across their bedroom and investigating every corner. “How could she say no to that?” 

Looking at the delight shining on Tobias’s face, Henry couldn’t help but agree.


End file.
